At first, Maddy was unable to open her eyes. Even the thought of trying to pry them open produced a pain so intense she almost passed out. She groaned, feeling ... well, uncomfortable was a kind word for it. Her arms felt stretched beyond their limits, and she finally came to the conclusion that they had been bound tightly, an idea cemented by a futile attempt to move them, and more pain. She squeezed the fingers of her left hand together. Her ring was still in place, at least. A link to Sirius.

Eventually, the sick feeling ebbed and she managed to look around, not that it did her any good. She was in utter darkness, and currently had no idea where she might be. And more annoyingly, her other senses appeared to take their own sweet time returning. She tried desperately to hear a noise of some kind, but the place was so black and soundless that she thought time must surely be standing still.

"Sirius,"she whispered urgently, and wished he could hear her. But there was only oppressive silence in response, and she had never felt so alone.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Maddy's head jerked up. I must have dozed off, she thought wearily. Her arms now felt like two dead weights stretched on either side of her body, and her legs weren't in much better shape, bent under her body and close to the floor. Just then, a familiar aroma delicately touched her nostrils, and she felt comforted.

Mum, she thought contentedly. The faint scent of lavender reminded her that it had been a favorite of her mother's, and the still room just off her kitchen was a place for hanging bunches of that herb. It had served as a pantry, as well. But that couldn't be where Maddy was now, not if it was daytime, at least. There had been a tiny window in it, she recalled. She concentrated on inhaling deeply, trying with desperation to detect other odors that might tell her where she was. Another scent became apparent; one of earth and musty dampness, and she decided she must be held captive in a cellar.

Suddenly the image of Umbridge appeared in her mind, and Maddy cried out reflexively, remembering excruciating pain that was more intense and unrelenting than anything she had ever experienced. She panicked now, and struggled in vain with the bonds holding her. But it seemed the more she fought them, the tighter they became. Finally, gasping and shaky, she gave up and tried to think of her mother again; anything to get her mind off that cruciatus curse. A memory sparked by the lavender scent came back to her, one of playing in the kitchen, as a little child, as the woman worked. Then William's sullen face, rife with an attack of teenage spots, as he argued with their mum, as usual. Dad will let me do it, he had sneered once in response to some rejected request.

William. Fear of her situation dissipated when Maddy considered him. That fucking bastard, she thought maliciously. She wished desperately to have these bonds removed, so she could end this once and for all. He deserved to die. Then the pink-haired witch floated, like a ghost, into Maddy's mind, and she felt the same anger toward Tonks, whom she had thought was a good person, and her friend. How could she have stood by, silently watching as Umbridge cursed her in front of a boy they both knew? That made no sense whatsoever.

Mum, help me. Maddy pleaded silently with her dead mother, wishing she could give her some guidance from beyond the grave. Then she remembered something so incredibly obvious she couldn't believe she had ever forgotten it. The letter her mother had sent Sirius at Christmastime. The one that plainly stated a pink-haired witch would be present if William was able to abduct her. Jesus, how could I be so stupid? Maddy thought, now angry with herself for her slow-witted response. Tonks would never harm her. Her mother had known about Victoria, but had thought the witch with pink hair must be someone else. But how hard would it be for William's wife to take a tiny bit of Tonks' hair sometime to mix with polyjuice potion? Was that what had happened?

Too many thoughts clamored for attention all at once in Maddy's mind, and her head pounded in protest. She recalled being sent to Umbridge's office. Sending Sirius a patronus. The squirrelly Filch tapping his foot impatiently, telling her to hurry up. Maddy grabbing the torc Sirius had given her for Christmas and frantically fastening it around her neck.

Now the one vision that had meant more to her than anything came back in a flood of memories. Her beloved husband, speaking to her from the future on the lawn beside their home. She remembered his words by heart now. What I want you to do, Sirius had said, is to have your other wand on you at all times. You can transfigure it to be this. His head was resting at her pregnant belly, but he had reached up to touch the silver necklace with its constellation of diamonds that rested in the hollow between her collarbones. It will come in handy. I'll do the same. Maddy thought of the long leather cord, with its symbol of bone, that Sirius had recently shown her. Perhaps he had done the same thing with it. She couldn't remember for sure if he had said. She wanted more than anything to feel the comfort of that torc around her neck now, but she had no way of knowing if it was still there.

An intense sadness overtook her, and hot tears spilled, streaking down her face. What if she didn't get out of this? No marriage to Sirius, no son, nor possibly a daughter. She would never see him again. And, oh God, was Voldemort going to show up, demanding that she prophesy for him? He would kill her just as soon as he discovered she was unable to do it. Or even worse, he might decide to use the cruciatus curse on her. Maddy didn't think she could live through that again.

Oh, for fuck's sake, she told herself, heaving a deep breath. Stop being so pathetic. She had an element of surprise on her side with that torc, after all. Surely it was still there. If she could convince William to undo her bindings and get feeling back in her arms, he wouldn't know what hit him. She fervently hoped that Sirius was able to rally reinforcements. He would come after her, she knew, and Maddy was confident her brother would be no match for him. She wanted Sirius to be in as little danger as possible, though.

Time crept by, she supposed, and she dozed off restlessly a few more times, though it seemed only for a few minutes before her head jerked back up in alarm. She thought she had detected a noise, from far off. God, please let it be Sirius, she thought with despair. Maddy had never been a very religious person, but now seemed to be an excellent time to start praying.

Then footsteps echoed overhead, slow and deliberate. Maddy got the sense that not only was this not Sirius, it was someone who was in absolutely no hurry whatsoever. The sound resembled high heels on a creaky wooden floor, and she doubted that it was a man. Her heartbeat began to hammer as she waited on the unknown person, most likely Victoria, to show herself. But just as the thought struck her, there was silence once more.

Maddy held her breath, wondering what would happen next. I will make it through this, she told herself. But nerves, and the damp cold of the cellar, began to affect her, and she started to tremble uncontrollably.

The sound of high heels on wood started up again, and closer this time, until it sounded right above her. She saw a sliver of light and heard another kind of creak, and she looked up at the ceiling, squinting as she made out a door being opened. It must be a trapdoor that pulled up from the floor, she thought. The room was now being littered with falling dust. Maddy looked down, shaking her head as it filled the room. She sneezed loudly, and the person who had opened the door laughed. It was a deep throaty sound, but unmistakably a woman's laughter.

The heels clacked on rickety wooden steps that Maddy could now make out, though she blinked several times, trying to accustom her eyes to the presence of light. The skirt of a long, dark dress swayed with each step, and Maddy craned her neck, trying desperately to get a better view of the person. The woman reached the bottom step and stopped for a moment.

"Well, hello there, Maddy." The person, as yet unknown, smiled at her and walked over.

As she grew closer, however, the smile became more of a leer. Maddy examined her closely, expecting to see Victoria Dunham, but this woman had long, raven hair that appeared to have run amuck on her head. Frizzy curls, that might have been attractive had they been groomed, stuck out in all directions, and heavy-lidded, deep set grey eyes observed Maddy's response with amusement.

"Notice a resemblance?" the woman asked with a twisted grin. She held a crooked wand in one hand, tapping it innocently against her other palm.

"My blood traitor cousin and I look something alike, don't you think? To my great misfortune. Or perhaps you've seen my picture in the Prophet. Though it wasn't very flattering."

"Bellatrix Lestrange," Maddy said hoarsely, trying to clear her throat. Yet another memory, long since dormant, came over her. A little girl, in a gloomily-appointed drawing room, screaming as her mother made a small cut on her wrist and pressed it to a boy's. Out of the crowd watching, an older girl with dark curly hair and heavy-lidded eyes laughed at him.

"That's me. Bet you'd like to have one of these, wouldn't you?" the other woman taunted softly now, taking her wand and pointing it at Maddy's heart. "Well, we've got a few minutes, I think, so we'll just have a little chat as we wait. I'm sure you must have questions."

Maddy's mind began to process details furiously. Her eyes darted around in a panic as she tried to figure out where she was, now that the room was meagerly lit, but if this was her family's home, she didn't recognize it.

"Where am I?" she asked flatly. Her voice came out as something of a croak.

"Your old stomping grounds, my dear," Bellatrix answered, flashing a smile. "The stately O'Hannon residence. But I suppose you've never seen this part of it, according to your dear brother. Needs a bit of cleaning," she added with a bark-like laugh that made Maddy glance sharply at another resemblance to Sirius.

"Where's William?" Maddy demanded, as though he would come to her aid.

"Oh, he'll be along soon enough. So. What did you think of the cruciatus? Nice, huh?"

Maddy looked at her in confusion.

"Ah. You didn't know, did you? Ugly bird with the pink hair ... that mud-blood Tonks? That was me." She shuddered. "Merlin, her potion tasted like cotton candy. How disgusting. Ol' Umbridge was a big help, though, and she didn't even know it! We were beginning to think we'd never get you, and then she was made headmistress!"

"You?" Maddy replied weakly. Why on earth would Bellatrix Lestrange be involved?

"Yes, my dear," Bellatrix replied with exaggerated patience. "No one really trusted Victoria or William" – she pulled a face – "to succeed, having failed at several attempts already. And since others of us have been hearing of your virtues ad nauseam, we decided, collectively, that you might just come in useful in several capacities. But more about that later. I hate to spoil all the fun for you."

"How long have I been here?"

Bellatrix grinned. "Tired of the accommodations already? Let's see ... about four hours, I believe."

Her head jerked up sharply with the distant sound of a door closing, then her gaze settled on Maddy again. More than one person was approaching from the main floor this time. Bellatrix turned, training her wand at the empty space in the ceiling until she was could identify the people descending the stairs.

William was first, followed by another man, and Maddy blinked, trying to figure out who the other person was. Bellatrix grinned and lowered her wand.

"Bellatrix, I hope you haven't spoiled my news already."

Maddy looked around Bellatrix to see a tall blond-haired man stepping off the bottom stair. The scent of lavender seemed to grow stronger, and she wondered if Lucius Malfoy wore it as a cologne. He strolled slowly over to her, noticing her discomfort and clearly enjoying it. He lit his wand and looked her over through narrowed eyes. Maddy had the uneasy feeling of being mentally stripped bare.

"Been missing your brother?" Malfoy asked softly, tilting his head in the other wizard's direction.

"No," Maddy answered sharply, finding her voice as she glared at William, who looked triumphantly back at her. "How about explaining this room, Will? I don't seem to remember it."

William walked over and stood next to Malfoy.

"Oh, this," he answered, as if he was surprised she would care. "Dad created this room several years back."

He looked around at the sparse cellar, glancing speculatively at dirt walls. "It was just before Mum got a bit too mouthy with him. After your boyfriend got sent off to Azkaban. Too bad she didn't see any of that coming!" He laughed.

"Keep going," Maddy said, though her voice was shakier now. She had the distinct feeling that she knew where this was headed, but she wanted to hear him say it.

William shrugged. "Obvious, isn't it? She died in here. Poor Dad felt sorry for me. I didn't appreciate the things she was saying. Bloody old hag and her damned sight. She got what was coming to her."

Maddy's body ached terribly, but she paid it no attention. "You watched, did you?" Her voice still shook, but now from anger.

"No," her brother said slowly, getting closer to her face. "Our father watched. I think he was shocked I was capable of it, actually. But he got over that soon enough."

She stared at him, unbelieving. "You fucking low-life. You're telling me you killed our mother?" Maddy asked hoarsely. "How could you?"

"It was easy enough," William replied calmly. "She was a stupid, nosy bitch. No use to our dad, nor me. Father went to Azkaban on my account ... he 'confessed' once people started questioning things. Anything to keep me away from that place, poor soul. I'm sorry he's gone, at least."

He flinched when a gob of spit landed on his face, and his eyes narrowed with hatred at his sister. He yanked his wand out of his robes and pointed it in Maddy's face in retaliation.

"I wouldn't mind doing it to you, either, if I didn't already have plans for you," William growled in a low voice after wiping his face. "In fact, how about some more crucio first? Bella said you were screaming loud enough to wake the dead." He smiled now, unpleasantly.

"Now, now. Calm down, William," Malfoy said, sounding bored. "Dear Maddy is already worn out."

"Well, someone's got my wand, so why all the drama with tying me up?" asked Maddy, addressing no one in particular.

Malfoy smiled. "That was my idea. I must confess to enjoying a bit of drama, myself. Makes things much more entertaining. We'll untie you soon enough. Maybe."

"William," he continued softly, "perhaps you should wait upstairs with Victoria in case Bella's hapless cousin or his friends happen to drop in? Surely you can take care of him yourself." He didn't take his eyes off Maddy.

William frowned. "Nah. He hasn't a hope of getting in here. Not after that bloody house elf of his nicked his dad's grimmoire for Bella. This place is as secure as Gringotts."

Malfoy ignored his words and turned to him.

"Do as I say," he commanded, as if he were speaking to an errant child.

Bellatrix watched them both with amusement, and looked down idly at her wand, bent like a tree branch. She scraped the tip with a long fingernail.

William opened his mouth to argue again, and a jet of green light issued from her wand before any words came out. He fell over immediately, dead.

"Oh God!" Maddy screamed.

She looked wildly over to Lucius and Bellatrix, who paid no attention to her brother's lifeless body on the dirt floor, but now regarded her speculatively. Her mind was still working quickly. Why the bloody hell had she and Sirius not mentioned these events in her vision? Had that just been some alternate universe where none of this had ever happened? Panic overtook her, and she began to hyperventilate, wrenching wildly against the bonds holding her. She wanted to feel the security of the torc that Sirius had given her for Christmas, and wished more than anything that he would show up and remove her from this nightmare.

Bellatrix laughed merrily.

"Now, now. Calm down," Malfoy repeated with a sigh. "There's no point in wasting energy."

Maddy's body sagged, relaxing slightly, but she tried her best, among the panic, to think of a creative way out of this situation.

He laughed, watching the emotions flitting across her face. "Oh, my dear, we are going to have so much fun with you," he said softly. "A member of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix for my very own. And no one will ever know what happened to you. But I'm getting ahead of myself."

"Oh, go on, tell her, Lucius. I'm sure she's dying to know," said Bellatrix with a grin.

"You think so? Very well, then. Dear little Maddy, you are to be my first ... well, trophy, you might say. William told me about you and your talents long ago, and how it was his wish that the Dark Lord be given full advantage of them. How philanthropic, your brother." Malfoy's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Little did he realize that the Dark Lord has no need of them; he hasn't for years. Stupid little boy, and his wife's an idiot as well. The Dark Lord was growing weary of listening to his silly pleas for acceptance. He commanded Bellatrix to do the honors here." He nodded toward William's lifeless body.

"But I digress. Anyway, I was strolling around Malfoy Manor one day .... ancient place, you know ... been around for a few centuries. And there are certain areas of the house that, well, my sweet Narcissa doesn't know about." He shrugged. "Most likely used for torture, starvation, things like that, at some point in the past. And it occurred to me. What a perfect place to house someone from the opposing side for my own ... amusement. And I have many ways of taking my pleasure. I assure you that you would never grow bored there, fulfilling my little wants and desires. And I'm thinking of my son, as well. He seems to find you diverting, though he's not fully aware of your allegiance with Dumbledore just yet. When he comes of age, I could just hand you off to him if I happened to be tired of you. Now, if he loses interest, well ..." He shrugged unconcernedly. "Then we would have to dispose of you."

The horror of what Malfoy was suggesting slowly sank in Maddy's brain and crowded itself in with all the other terrible events that were happening. Her shoulders ached, but she paid no attention to them as she desperately tried not to picture what he had in mind for her.

"I think I'd rather you just kill me," she said shakily, yet with a trace of defiance.

Bellatrix laughed. "Oh, such a wet blanket! He'll have you singing a different tune before long, I promise you. Once you're under the Imperius curse, you'll do anything we want, and then you'll be begging for more."

Malfoy cut in. "And once in a while, if you're very good, I'll shackle you tightly and remove the curse for a time, just so you can remember exactly what became of you and contemplate whose side you should have been on. You could've been the clever Death Eater in the family, after all." He rolled his eyes slightly. "What a waste."

Maddy turned to Bellatrix. "Isn't his wife your sister? You actually think she'll take this lying down?"

The other witch grinned. "Oh, you don't know Cissy. I doubt she cares who he consorts with, distasteful as she might find you. But even so, the prospect of having such spoils as yourself far outweighs any moral outrage I might have on my dear sister's behalf. And we Death Eaters get to watch your humiliation whenever we want. And perhaps participate, which I'm sure some would be more than happy to do. Too bad my dear blood traitor cousin won't be around to see it. We've already decided he's getting the killing curse, as well, if he's brave enough to show his face. I'm not convinced he'll think you're worth coming after. Of course, we could let him watch just beforehand."

"That's ridiculous," Maddy bluffed, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "I've never seen that. I tend to be very good at this sort of thing ... visions, I mean, and I don't believe you're capable of doing any such thing to Sirius, nor myself. I'm positive we'll outlast the two of you."

She glared defiantly at them, and they were quiet for only a moment. Then Lucius grinned indulgently.

"That's the spirit, my dear. Not that I buy it for a moment, mind you. Can't blame you for trying. Now, we have one more thing to take care of." He rolled his eyes heavenward to indicate Victoria's presence upstairs. "And then, we'll be off."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

The night was brightly lit by a yellow moon, perfectly round and hanging low in the sky. Sirius looked up, cursing it for the first time, and his friend's inability to help. Remus was incapacitated; holed up in his flat just now and sleeping comfortably as a wolf. Only Tonks and Moody had accompanied him tonight.

Bloody stupid full moon, he thought with disgust. Out of nowhere, he suddenly remembered words spoken from an old song, one he hadn't heard in years.

Cold-hearted orb, that rules the night

Removes the colours from our sight

Red is gray, and yellow, white

But we decide which is right, and which is an illusion.

He snorted at the thought and shook it off, then repeated the spell that would make the house visible to them. Apparently William thought he had been very clever with this method of hiding, but the grimmoire's contents had exposed his actions, once Sirius and Remus had experimented enough with it during a visit to the ruins. Gradually as they watched, a large stone house appeared, building itself up until the last chimney stone locked into place.

Sirius wasted no time, but held his wand out. He cautiously walked up and opened the front door to the O'Hannon house very softly. Tonks and Moody followed him inside. Once in the foyer, Moody's eye swiveled around a few times, then darted left and right.

"Two bodies. It's all that's here," the retired auror declared in his characteristic blunt manner. He leaned on his staff, waiting expectantly for Sirius' response.

Tonks gasped softly, and Sirius' face went white as a ghost.

"Can you tell who they are?" he asked slowly, bracing himself.

Moody screwed up his face in contemplation, letting the eye roam around once more.

"Blond woman. Tall dark haired man. She's on this floor, but he's ... he must be in the cellar? A dark place."

Sirius felt a tiny wave of relief pass over him. "Alright, let's go on in."

Finding Victoria didn't take long at all. She was in one of the front rooms on the floor, looking for all the world as if she had just dozed off and could wake at any moment. Sirius stood over the woman, wondering who had killed her. At least it isn't Madeleine, he thought before moving on. But where the hell is she?

They continued to walk stealthily through the dark house, looking for an entrance to the cellar. Then Moody branched off toward the back of the house as Tonks followed Sirius. The scent of lavender became stronger upon entering the kitchen, and Sirius saw, from his illuminated wand, another door. In spite of Moody's ability to see through walls, he still opened it cautiously, and found a large pantry with a small window. Dried up old bunches of lavender hung from the ceiling, obviously having been there for years, undisturbed. Rodents had apparently made a meal of quite a few things in here. Their waste littered the floor, along with cartons long since gnawed to pieces.

Sirius pointed his lit wand downward in disgust, reminded of Peter Pettigrew. He wondered where that rodent was. As he did, though, he saw a mixture of footprints disturbing the dust, as if several people had been through here. He pointed his light around all corners until he noticed the outline of a door in the floor, similar to one that led from the Whomping Willow tunnel into the Shrieking Shack.

Tonks came up behind him. "Find something?" she whispered.

"Yeah. I'm going to open this." Sirius looked for a way to pry the door up, but found no good way to do it.

"Alohomora," he said. It creaked open slowly, rising from the floor.

"Should've tried that first," he chastised himself.

Tonks patted his back reassuringly. "Let's go."

They made their way down the rickety steps and looked around. The room was rather small, with only a dirt floor and walls. Sirius made out the figure of a man, lying much the same way Victoria had been. He leaned over the body, feeling a wave of sadness. Not for this man's death, but for the resemblance to his sister. A wand lay, discarded, next to him, and Tonks picked it up.

"Priori incantatem," she said quickly. She wanted to get that over with, hoping to rule out a curse that might have been cast on Maddy.

Sirius watched in apprehension as the ghostly image of William apparating to some location came and went. Well, at least he hadn't tortured Madeleine. His shoulders sagged a little in relief. That still didn't explain where she had gone, though, nor what could have transpired here. He stepped over the lifeless form and resumed his search for clues.

"Sirius! I just saw something," Tonks exclaimed. "Probably just a piece of glass, but ..." She pointed over to a corner of the room.

Sirius walked over to it, willing himself to detect Maddy's presence here recently. But he could tell nothing. He pointed his wand, illuminating the dirt floor, and saw something glitter in response. He knelt down and picked it up.

Tonks hurried over to him. "What is it?"

He didn't turn toward her at first, but remained in a crouching position, examining the object. Then he stood up, avoiding her eyes. Tonks looked closely at him, and in the light of the wand his eyes shone unnaturally bright. She realized he had tears in them.

"It's the ring I gave her," he finally said in a tight voice. "Her engagement ring."